A STUDENT suffered serious burns when he tackled a fire at a Coventry University hall of residence today....

A STUDENT suffered serious burns when he tackled a fire at a Coventry University hall of residence today.

Fire-fighters said they could have been investigating a double fatality after students woke to find their bedroom curtains ablaze.

Alkis Manossis, aged 22, was treated for serious burns after beating the flames out with his hands in Singer Hall, in Vogue Close, Hillfields.

Mr Manossis was asleep with his girlfriend, Tina Bagratani, aged 20, in a first-floor bedroom when a candle burning at the base of a window spread to the curtains at 3.40am. She was uninjured but said to be in shock.

Fire officers said the synthetic fibres from the curtains melted in Mr Manossis? hands as he frantically fought the blaze. They said both students were lucky to be alive.

Security men alerted fire officers after smoke alarms were triggered.

Fifteen students were evacuated until fire-fighters arrived.

Station officer Vaughan Pollard, based at Radford, said: ?A couple were in a deep sleep last night with a tea-light burning away under their nylon curtains.

?The curtains caught fire and we could have easily been looking at a double fatality.

?Luckily, the man woke to see the flames and put the fire out by hitting the curtains with his hands.

?The curtains were made from hand-made fibres which melted into his hands. He was in agony.?

Damage to the bedroom was restricted to the window frame and the curtains.

Station officer Pollard advised anyone wanting to burn candles to keep them away from flammable materials.

He said the candles should be placed in a bowl of water but never left unattended.